


Possibilities

by Fabrisse



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Confidence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-07
Updated: 2009-10-07
Packaged: 2018-03-11 10:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3324491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others. -- Hasidic Saying</p>
            </blockquote>





	Possibilities

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by lovetheboys
> 
> This is a story that I posted at Rounds of Kink that I hadn't posted here yet.

"Has it ever occurred to you, that I might like to talk to someone afterward?" Everyone on board could hear Spencer even before he came on the plane. 

Morgan stepped through behind him and helped the pilots seal the door. "Trust me, we all know you can talk for days. What you need is to get laid. Hell, just get out of the house once in awhile."

They sat down across the table from Emily and JJ. JJ was already shuffling the deck as the plane started down the runway. 

Emily looked at Morgan. "This from a man who can quote the previous night's Leno monologue? He's on at ten these days."

"Yeah, yeah. Protect Reid from big, bad Derek." He rolled his eyes. "But tell me ladies, don't you think Officer Edgarton was offering our young genius something more than help with writing his reports?"

JJ finished dealing. "Which one was Edgarton?"

Reid tossed his hair back and gave a surprisingly girlish giggle. 

JJ glared at Morgan. "Really? Officer Barbie Doll was your idea of a good match for Reid?"

"Well, you two didn't work out, but I know he likes blondes." Morgan grinned at her. The smile slipped when he looked at his hand.

"Wait." Emily glanced between Reid and JJ. "You two?"

"It was one date," Reid said.

"Years ago."

Emily sighed. "It seems I missed the good stuff." She put down a quarter as her ante.

Morgan did the same. "My point being, Pretty Boy here needs a lady friend."

"I thought you said he needed to get laid." JJ said, "Reid, it's your move."

He looked at his hand again. "Got any twos?"

Emily raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were playing poker."

"Trust me, with this hand, it better be 'Go Fish'." He threw in his quarter.

"I thought Jameson would be more Reid's type." 

JJ nodded. "I could see it. At the very least, there'd be plenty of conversation."

"Jameson," Morgan asked.

"Tall. Red haired." Emily started the list.

"Blue eyed." Reid finished it. "He gave me his number."

Rossi put down the report he was reading. "You could have asked to stay behind. I'm sure Hotch wouldn't have minded."

Morgan's jaw dropped. "Seriously. You guys are talking about the Irish cop. I thought he was after you." He looked at Emily.

"All he asked me was whether Reid was really as smart as he seemed. Pity. I liked his dimples."

"I wonder if he has more." Reid teased Morgan with the remark.

Without looking up, Hotch said, "At least Dave and I wouldn't have to worry about your knocking him up."

"Hotch!" Morgan was incredulous.

"Calm down, children. Don't make me turn this plane around." Dave went back to his case file.

Emily, JJ, and Reid all started to giggle. 

Reid said, "Morgan, how many nights a week do you do anything besides walk Clooney and watch TV?"

"I go out most Fridays. Some Saturdays. I do a lot of work on the houses."

"Right. I'm at class two nights a week. I'm either attending or giving a lecture one night a week. I don't go to dance clubs, but I've run into Hotch and Dave at the Kennedy Center. It's not like I don't have an active life."

"Yeah, but don't you want a little lovin' sometimes?"

"Don't we all?" Emily said.

"Tell you what. After we land, come with me to my Thursday night thing."

"Thing? I'm not going to get something more specific?"

"No. I just want you to see that I have a life I enjoy."

"And you're not going to talk about Jameson again?"

"I might talk _to_ him at some point, but I promise not to talk about him."

"Sure, kid. I'll see what you do on Thursday nights."

*** 

Morgan hated not being the one in the driver's seat, but he had to admit, Reid handled the old car he drove very well. "Are we there yet?"

Reid didn't get the joke, but gave a half smile any way. "Nearly." He pulled up to a gate and spoke to a guard. 

"Tell me this isn't the way you spend your Thursdays." Morgan looked at the large, newish building they were pulling up towards.

"I have a gun safe in my trunk. Leave your weapon and handcuffs back there."

"The DC Correctional Facility. What the … " Morgan took off his holstered weapon and put it into the safe beside Reid's. The handcuffs went in too before Reid locked it.

"Teaching inmates math is not going to get you a girlfriend."

"Right." Reid handed his satchel to the guards for inspection and walked through the metal detector.

Morgan followed him.

They were taken to a room where eight men were sitting at tables. "Good evening. Tonight, Doctor Morgan will be joining us. Feel free to ask him any questions that you'd ask me."

"Doctor Morgan?" He whispered.

"You have a JD from Northwestern, right?"

"Yeah, but."

"Doctor Reid also told us he a Feeb. You got cop written all over you, but the Doc? I don't think so."

Morgan looked at the older man. He was the kind of guy who seemed to be talking with a toothpick in his mouth, even when there wasn't one. 

"Mr. Jackson will be testing for his GED next week."

The man nodded. "I been in here for seven years and at Lorton for nearly a dozen afore that, but the Doc's the first one could teach me to read. You got any more of that Harry Potter, Doc?"

"I didn't get to stop by home on my way here tonight. I'll bring _Goblet of Fire_ next week. I should warn you, it's long."

"Not like I'm going anywhere." Jackson gave a wry smile. 

"All right. Since the test is next week, I'm handing out copies of magazines this week. Each one has a marked article in it and twelve questions: five on vocabulary and spelling, five on comprehension, and two essay questions. You only have to answer one of the essay questions. Each essay must be a paragraph. Hutson, you had the highest grade last week, you get first choice on the magazines."

Hutson was the youngest in the room. He came up to Reid and picked a copy of _Scientific American_. "Good choice."

Each of the prisoners came up in the order Reid called them a picked a magazine. "Everyone have a pencil? You'll have twenty minutes to answer the questions beginning … now."

Morgan whispered, "Some of those articles are barely two paragraphs."

"It's high school equivalency. Two paragraphs of _Scientific American_ are more complicated than anything they'll get on the actual test."

After the tests were done, Reid went over all of them and talked about the vocabulary issues and the paragraph structures.

Morgan watched Reid joke with the men. He pointed out their mistakes gently and helped them find the right words. There were a couple of vocabulary drills, and a big dictionary was passed around to find the definitions for the ones they hadn't known.

At nine-thirty, the guards came to take the prisoners back to their cells before bed check at ten. Reid had them inspect the magazines, and then distributed them among his students. Even Jackson seemed happy with his copy of _National Geographic_.  
***   
Reid was quiet as he drove Morgan back to Virginia. 

Finally, Morgan said, "Why not math? I know one of your Ph.D.s is in mathematics."

"Because mathematics is useless for the GED. Seriously, these guys need arithmetic, and I don't have the patience for it."

"Arithmetic, math, it's the same thing."

Reid chuckled. "It really isn't. My thesis was on 'number theory' which is a branch of mathematics that other mathematicians look at and go, 'Dude, really?' about. People find fiction easy to read, but they were having a hard time finding people who could teach technical reading. So I volunteered. And when I get frustrated with the people who sit and text each other through my lectures at Georgetown, I remember these guys."

"You know this wasn't the best way to convince me you have a social life."

"You couldn't have asked on Wednesday, when I meet with my study group for Philosophy after class."

"Any good looking girls in that study group?"

"A couple." Reid found a pull out and stopped the car. "There are a couple of cute guys, too. I'm bisexual. I'm not going to throw it in your face, but I'm not going to hide it. Someone like Jameson will always interest me more than an airhead like Edgarton would."

"I should have figured you were serious about that. Look, I won't ride you about it. Tell me if you find someone, though. I want to make sure they treat you right."

Reid nodded and turned to start the car.

Morgan put a hand on his shoulder. "You were really great tonight. Confident. It looked good on you."

"Thanks."

"I keep feeling like you have something more to say, kid."

Reid shook his head. He reached for the ignition, stopped, and turned back to Morgan. "I'm attracted to you. I won't act on it because I know you're not interested, but I thought you should know that my ideal end to this evening would be to kiss you goodnight on your front porch."

This time, he did turn the ignition. He checked the mirrors and pulled back onto the GW Parkway.

They'd gone a couple of miles when Morgan said, "I don't kiss on the first date."

"I've seen you in clubs. You'll kiss _before_ the first date."

"Not with someone I might get serious about. Oh, and Clooney is non-negotiable. You'll have to learn how to handle a dog if we're going to date."

"Not funny. I'll put up with a lot of teasing from you, but not this."

"Not teasing. I… Carl Buford did a number on me. Maybe it's something I won't be able to handle. I can't promise you more than that I'll try. So, you figure out where I'm taking you on Saturday night, and I'll kiss you goodnight at your front door."

"Morgan?"

"Spencer. I liked the man I saw tonight. I'd like to get to know him better. So, what sounds good for Saturday."

Reid grinned as he took the exit toward Morgan's town. "How do you feel about jazz?"


End file.
